Milwaukee Venue Says What We’re All Thinking: No More Metalcore!
Correction: A representative for Borg Ward says that “Connor Norton is not the owner of the venue. He helps out a lot in certain realms, but he has never been the owner.” We apologize for our error.
Despite stereotypes about them, metalheads are generally courteous and reasonable people–but let’s face it, we’re naturally destructive. Leave me alone in a four-walled structure for more than ten minutes and I’ll start either slamming the doors too hard, scuffing up the floor, or wondering which corner I should masturbate in. It’s nothing personal, I’m just a human bulldozer by nature.
According to Metal Insider, Milwaukee venue Borg Ward learned that some metalheads are worse than others, and they ain’t happy about it. Even though the DIY space has hosted punk and metal shows in the past, a recent act of destruction caused during a metalcore show has caused the venue’s owner, Connor Patrick Norton, to declare no more metalcore for Borg Ward.
Norton posted the following on Facebook:
That kind of damage is pretty fucked up. If I invited a bunch of dudes to a party at my place and they kicked a hole this size in my wall, I’d toss lose my shit, brandish a weapon, and toss ’em the fuck out.
What’s interesting is that, while he never specifies which bands caused such wanton destruction, Norton singles out metalcore fans — not metalheads, not hardcore fans, but metalcore kids. He makes a specific point of mentioning that this isn’t a problem for “every other scene who books here.” It sort of makes sense in a way — metalcore is that mixture of metal’s pomposity with hardcore’s destroy-it-if-you-feel-like-it attitude, all of it wrapped up in a prissy fashion sense. That said, it’s also a genre that considers itself somewhat modern and enlightened overall, so you gotta wonder what it is about about Milwaukee metalcore kids that makes them such dickheads.
Anyway, let this be a lesson to bands and their fans everywhere — don’t shit all over indie venues if you want to be able to see your favorite bands there. Meanwhile, let this also be a lesson to indie venues everywhere — metalcore sucks, so don’t book it.
